Relief as developers drop Leeds homes challenge

Campaigners today told of their relief after developers abandoned a bid to try to rescue plans for a controversial housing scheme in Leeds.

David Wilson Homes and Barratt have announced that they are withdrawing their appeal against Leeds City Council’s decision to reject proposals for the 700-property development at Scholes.

As previously reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post, the appeal was due to be the subject of a public inquiry early next year.

Ian Ruthven, managing director at Barratt Developments Yorkshire West, said: “We can confirm that we are withdrawing our appeal on land east of Scholes within the next few days.

“We have built up a strong relationship with the council working on a wide range of sites across the city and in the interests of maintaining a collaborative approach we have agreed that this is the best course of action for all parties.”

Mr Ruthven added: “As we have proven on recent schemes within the city, we remain committed to building high quality homes and communities in full collaboration with the authority and the local community.”

George Hall, a Scholes resident and community planning expert, hailed the decision as “a relief”.

He also said, however, that people in the village were concerned by an announcement from the developers that they were now considering a smaller scheme for the area.

Details of what that scheme could entail have yet to be made public.

Mr Hall told the YEP: “We cannot drop our guard completely until we find out what they are coming back with.”

The abandoned scheme attracted 2,500 objections and was deemed too large by council planning chiefs last year.

It would have included a new primary school, shops, GP surgery and possibly a small pharmacy.